Russell Group Universities

What is a Russell Group university?

In its own words, the Russell Group (RG) “represents 24 leading UK universities…committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public sector”.

These universities have a significant impact on life in the UK and across the world. RG membership is a hallmark of quality.

The Rg first convened in 1994 when the heads of member universities met. It became a formal organisation in 2007.

Russell Group university rankings

RG universities can be found in every major city in the UK. Their standing as educational institutions means they feature prominently in global rankings.

The Group’s aim is to ensure that its members’ world-class teaching and research has an impact – socially, culturally and economically – throughout the UK and the world.

Our membership of the RG at Queen’s means that our courses are directly shaped and influenced by research – research that is carried out by our academics. The latest discoveries and ways of thinking are fed into our degree programmes every year. Students are taught by the same people who conduct the research.

To underpin our commitment to internationally-leading research and collaboration, we have established four interdisciplinary Global Research Institutes and six Pioneer Research Programmes, bringing researchers together to tackle some of the greatest global challenges of our age.

The Russell Group and Queen’s University

RG universities pride themselves on their standard of education, their facilities and their learning experience, and Queen’s is no exception.

The University is one of the top three RG universities for intellectual property commercialisation, and we have created over 70 spin-out companies including economic heavyweights such as Almac and Kainos.

This is one of the reasons why Queen’s is in the top 200 universities in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2019), joint eighth in the UK for research intensity [Research Excellence Framework 2014], with 75% of our research judged to be ‘world-class’ or ‘internationally leading’ (REF 2014)

Learning and teaching

On the teaching front, 25 Queen’s subjects feature in the UK top 20, according to the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018, with 10 in the UK top 10.

Our dedication to fostering a more global student body is demonstrated by our standing as the fastest growing RG University for International Students (HESA, 2011 – 2014), and our first place ranking in the RG for international students’ overall learning experience.